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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Christianity > Roman Catholicism, Roman Catholic Church
This book brings the theme of prayer into anthropological
discussion. Across diverse significant ethnographic case studies,
five anthropologists attend to prayers and how they are performed
and seen to intervene in the social world. The studies include
Pentecostals in Zambia, Charismatic Christians in Ghana,
Protestants in Scotland, Eastern Orthodox Christians in Romania,
and Catholics in Syria. Across these ethnographic cases, the book
argues that focusing on the social life of prayer offers a
significant way to engage with matters close to people. Prayers are
a way to map affect and the affective relationships people hold in
what they are oriented towards and care about. Taking its cue from
Marcel Mauss, the book invites us to go beyond the individual and
see how prayers always point to a broader social landscape of
obligation and affective investment. Focusing on the social life of
prayers, the book posits, accordingly entices a particular form of
situated comparison of diverse Christian traditions that pushes the
scholarly conversation on Christianity to consider central
questions of agency, responsibility and subjectivity. Taking up
prayer as the object of study, this book offers novel
anthropological perspectives on Christian life and practice. The
chapters in this book were originally published a special issue of
Religion.
Her spiritual director tells of St. Catherine's many miracles,
conversions, fasting, etc. She never failed to convert sinners who
came to her; they could not resist her "heavenly charm." She held
familiar conversation with Jesus and Mary, and had them visit her
often in her room.
Thomas Aquinas: The Basics is an engaging introduction to the
theology of arguably the greatest theologian and philosopher of the
Middle Ages. The sophistication and complexity of his thought can
be daunting for those approaching his work for the first time.
Through this lively and accessible book, Harkins provides an entry
point to understanding Aquinas's mature theological thought. As
well as giving an overview of Aquinas's life and written works,
this book examines Aquinas's understanding of: * the nature and
purpose of theology; * God's nature, existence, and operations; *
the Trinity; * creation; * evil; * the human person, human
happiness, and the virtues; * Christ and salvation; and * the
sacraments. Including a useful glossary of key terms, this text is
ideal for students and interested non-specialists seeking an
understanding of the theology of Aquinas.
This book highlights the model of contemplative Catholic school
leadership as an influence on faith-formation cultures within the
Catholic school, and it demonstrates the impact of cultural factors
on Catholic identity formation. By integrating reflection and
Catholic values with a leader's decision-making process, the model
described in this volume seeks coherence between the leader's faith
beliefs and their behaviors. Including five unique, international
case studies, this research emphasizes the character of the school
leader-including faith identity-as the principal architect of the
school's culture.
The career of the French saint Vincent de Paul has attracted the
attention of hundreds of authors since his death in 1660, but the
fate of his legacy - entrusted to the body of priests called the
Congregation of the Mission (Lazarists) - remains vastly neglected.
De Paul spent a lifetime working for the reform of the clergy and
the evangelization of the rural poor. After his death, his ethos
was universally lauded as one of the most important elements in the
regeneration of the French church, but what happened to this ethos
after he died? This book provides a thorough examination of the
major activities of de Paul's immediate followers. It begins by
analysing the unique model of religious life designed by de Paul -
a model created in contradistinction to more worldly clerical
institutes, above all the Society of Jesus. Before he died, de Paul
made very clear that fidelity to this model demanded that his
disciples avoid the corridors of power. However, this book follows
the subsequent departures from this command to demonstrate that the
Congregation became one of the most powerful orders in France. The
book includes a study of the termination of the little-known
Madagascar mission, which was closed in 1671. This mission, replete
with colonial scandal and mismanagement, revealed the terrible
pressures on de Paul's followers in the decade after his demise.
The end of the mission occasioned the first major reassessment of
the Congregation's goals as a missionary institute, and involved
abandoning some of the goals the founder had nourished. The rest of
the book reveals how the Lazarists recovered from the setbacks of
Madagascar, famously becoming parish priests of Louis XIV at
Versailles in 1672. From then on, fealty to Louis XIV gradually
trumped fidelity to de Paul. The book also investigates the darker
side of the Congregation's novel alliance with the monarch, by
examining its treatment of Huguenot prisoners at Marseille later in
the century, and its involvement with the slave trade in the Indian
Ocean. This study is a wide-ranging investigation of the Lazarists'
activities in the French Empire, ultimately concluding that they
eclipsed the Society of Jesus. Finally, it contributes new
information to the literature on Louis XIV's prickly relationship
with religious agents that will surprise historians working in this
area.
Although its various bodies boast a combined total of at least 300
million members, the Eastern Orthodox Church is widely perceived
among members of other denominations to be an exotic branch of the
faith, often shrouded in mysticism and misunderstanding that has
been exacerbated by the longstanding Eastern-Western split. In
'Purification of Memory', Ambrose Mong casts light on the true
nature of Orthodox theology, illuminating the thinking of eight
distinguished modern Orthodox theologians who have made important
contributions on topics as ecclesiology, ecumenism, Christology,
and Mariology. Approaching the work of John Meyendorff, Nicholas
Afanasiev, John Zizioulas, Georges Florovsky, Sergius Bulgakov,
Vladimir Lossky, Nicolas Berdyaev, and Jaroslav Pelikan from an
ecumenical standpoint, Mong deftly draws comparisons with the
theology of their Roman Catholic counterparts to reveal points on
which the two traditions have much more in common than either side
will always admit. The author interweaves these comparisons with a
fascinating exposition of the history of the schism between the
Eastern and Western Churches to demonstrate decisively that in
spite of the bitter mistrust dividing them, they share a common
heritage which could, and should, serve as a basis for
reunification. Before old wounds can mend, however, a healing
process of forgetting, characterized by Pope John Paul II as a
'purification of memory', must take place to clear the path towards
a long-awaited return to unity.
The rulers of the overseas empires summoned the Society of Jesus to
evangelize their new subjects in the 'New World' which Spain and
Portugal shared; this book is about how two different missions, in
China and Peru, evolved in the early modern world. From a European
perspective, this book is about the way Christianity expanded in
the early modern period, craving universalism. In China, Matteo
Ricci was so impressed by the influence that the scholar-officials
were able to exert on the Ming Emperor himself that he likened them
to the philosopher-kings of Plato's Republic. The Jesuits in China
were in the hands of the scholar-officials, with the Emperor at the
apex, who had the power to decide whether they could stay or not.
Meanwhile, in Peru, the Society of Jesus was required to impose
Tridentine Catholicism by Philip II, independently of Rome, a task
that entailed compliance with the colonial authorities' demands.
This book explores how leading Jesuits, Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) in
China and Jose de Acosta (1540-1600) in Peru, envisioned mission
projects and reflected them on the catechisms they both composed,
with a remarkable power of endurance. It offers a reflection on how
the Jesuits conceived and assessed these mission spaces, in which
their keen political acumen and a certain taste for power unfolded,
playing key roles in envisioning new doctrinal directions and
reflecting them in their doctrinal texts.
When Henry VIII died in 1547 he left a church in England that had
broken with Rome - but was it Protestant? The English Reformation
was quite different in its methods, motivations and results to that
taking place on the continent. This book: * examines the influences
of continental reform on England * describes the divorce of Henry
VIII and the break with Rome * discusses the political and
religious consequences of the break with Rome * assesses the
success of the Reformation up to 1547 * provides a clear guide to
the main strands of historical thought on the topic.
2021 Catholic Media Association Award first place award in backlist
beauty. Benedictine Daily Prayer provides an everyday edition of
the Divine Office for people who desire to pray with the church in
a simple manner. Based on fifteen hundred years of liturgical
prayer within the Benedictine monastic tradition, Benedictine Daily
Prayer offers a rich diet of classic office hymnody, psalmody, and
Scripture. This fully revised edition includes: A new organization
for the Office of Vigils, structured on a two-week cycle Daily
Offices also arranged on a two-week cycle Patristic readings for
each Sunday Concluding prayers for the daily and seasonal offices A
more user-friendly layout Benedictine Daily Prayer is designed for
Benedictine oblates, Benedictine monastics, and men and women
everywhere. Small enough to fit in a briefcase for travel, it is
arranged by date. Scripture readings are from the NRSV.
Indulgences have been synonymous with corruption in the Catholic
Church ever since Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses to
the church door in Wittenberg in 1517. Tingle explores the nature
and evolution of indulgences in the Counter Reformation and how
they were used as a powerful tool of personal and institutional
reform.
The mass is an extraordinary musical form. Whereas other Western
art music genres from medieval times have fallen out of favour, the
mass has not merely survived but flourished. A variety of
historical forces within religious, secular, and musical arenas saw
the mass expand well beyond its origins as a cycle of medieval
chants, become concertised and ultimately bifurcate. Even as
Western societies moved away from their Christian origins to become
the religiously plural and politically secular societies of today,
and the Church itself moved in favour of congregational singing,
composers continued to compose masses. By the early twentieth
century two forms of mass existed: the liturgical mass composed for
church services, and the concert mass composed for secular venues.
Spanning two millennia, The Origins and Ascendancy of the Concert
Mass outlines the origins and meanings of the liturgical texts,
defines the concert mass, explains how and why the split occurred,
and provides examples that demonstrate composers' gradual
appropriation of the genre as a vehicle for personal expression on
serious issues. By the end of the twentieth century the concert
mass had become a repository for an eclectic range of theological
and political ideas.
First published in 1926. 'These documents are full of intimate
interest' Times Literary Supplement 'A serious and intensely
interesting piece of work' The Guardian The Jesuit missionaries
were some of the earliest Europeans to find their way into the
Mogul empire in the sixteenth century. Spending more years at
Akbar's court than others did months, and traversing his dominions
from Lahore to Kabul, and from Kashmir to the Deccan, they
undoubtedly sowed the seeds of British influence in the East.
Reproducing, or summarizing the most valuable of the missionaries'
letters written prior to 1610, this volume makes available the
illegible and scattered primary sources on the reign of the Emperor
Akbar, and as such, forms the earliest European description of the
Mogul Empire.
Margaret B. Ingraham's collection Exploring this Terrain bids the
reader to join her in a journey of discovery. In a world in which
speed is increasingly regarded as a virtue and distraction is its
inevitable consequence, each of these poems offers escape and
consolation. One by one they invite the reader to be still, to
observe, to listen, to "taste and see" - and ultimately to
experience the wonder that only attention can discover hiding in
the thin places within the various terrains of our everyday lives.
"What is the terrain that Margaret Ingraham explores in Exploring
this Terrain? It ranges from the Blue Ridge Mountains to Pluto. The
path crosses the trails of memory and illness, the natural world
and disintegration, and various parts unseen. Yet it stays, as
Margaret says near the end of the book, in the 'secret places of my
brokenness.' It is the beautiful landscape of wonder, the uneven
country of love, the difficult ground of faith." -Loren Graham,
author of Places I Was Dreaming.
The White Tower. A terrible vision. Her home invaded and precious
documents stolen. Lady Isabelle must flee her pursuers, posing as a
young male scholar in the New College of St Mary in Oxford. But
when she learns she is with child it won't be long until she is
discovered amongst their ranks. Can she bring herself to love an
infant conceived in evil? And will she ever be reunited with her
beloved Richard, or will Sir Henry Lormont's dagger find him first?
This deftly plotted 15th century novel traverses the well-trodden
pilgrimage routes from Oxford to Rome encountering lepers,
assassins, sea rovers and historical figures Lady Margaret Beaufort
and Edmund Tudor along the way. Superbly researched by a scholar of
the period, Clover blends history with the riveting story of a
woman who overcomes the restrictions placed on her sex to create a
page-turning novel.
This book explores the vital role of faith-based organizations
(FBOs) in compensating for the market's and government's inability
to provide vital services. Its key theoretical contribution is the
notion that poverty is the result of a triadic failure-when
markets, government, and civil society become dysfunctional at the
same time. Using data on Catholic missionaries' development work,
this study presents the various ways by which FBOs mitigate market
and government failures in healthcare, education, and social
services, and in the process build and strengthen civil society.
This study has two main objectives. First, it aims to present an
overview of missionaries' development work, evaluating the
socioeconomic significance of their faith-based development work.
In addition, various comparative advantages and disadvantages have
been imputed to FBOs in the religion-development literature, and we
assess to what extent missionaries actually exhibit these posited
qualities in practice. Second, the groundwork is laid for future
religion-development scholars by presenting a theoretical framework
and a method for evaluating the role and contributions of FBOs in
the larger community. This is an important investigation of
contemporary worldwide Christianity and its relationship with
development. As such, it will interest scholars of religious
studies and missiology, as well as development economics, public
service and the political economy.
In the past few decades there has been an explosion of interest in
the period of late antiquity. Rather than being viewed within a
paradigm of the fall of the Roman Empire, these centuries have come
to be seen as a time of immense creativity and significance in
western history. Popes and the Church of Rome in Late Antiquity
places the history of the papacy in a broader context, by comparing
Rome with other major sees to show how it differed from these,
evaluating developments beyond Rome which created openings for the
extension of papal authority. Closer to home, the book considers
the ability of the Roman church to gain access to wealth, retain it
in difficult times, and disburse it in ways that enhanced its
authority. Author John Moorhead evaluates patterns in the
recruitment of popes and what these suggest about the background of
those who came to papal office. Structured around a narrative of
the papacy's history from the accession of Leo the Great to the
death of Zacharias II, the book does more than tell what happened
between these years, applying new approaches in intellectual,
cultural, and social history to provide a uniquely deep and
holistic study of the period.
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